According to
The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s
website, “chickee” is the word
Seminole Indians use for “house”. “The
chickee style of architecture - palmetto
thatch over a cypress log frame - was
born during the early 1800s when
Seminole Indians, pursued by U.S.
troops, needed fast, disposable shelter
while on the run.”

Today the
chickee is not often used as housing
although it is possible to see
traditional chickee huts in many parts
of South Florida often because they are
used as centerpieces in Florida outdoor
living.

If you want
your own entertainment chickee, call a
Seminole or Miccosukee Indian. First,
because Florida state building codes do
not require members of the Miccosukee
Tribe of Indians of Florida or the
Seminole Tribe of Florida to be licensed
contractors to build chickees (but,
State Statute does not exempt the
chickee from meeting local code of
ordinance requirements). And second,
because you would probably find it
difficult to find someone who has the
years of experience to build it properly
as do the Miccosukee and Seminole who
are practicing an indigenous art form
passed down from generation to
generation.

553.73 Florida Building Code.

(8)(i)
Chickees constructed by the Miccosukee
Tribe of Indians of Florida or the
Seminole Tribe of Florida. As used in
this paragraph, the term "chickee" means
an open-sided wooden hut that has a
thatched roof of palm or palmetto or
other traditional materials, and that
does not incorporate any electrical,
plumbing, or other nonwood features.

Fronds from
palm species used in Florida for chickee
roofs are Saw Palmetto (Serenoa
repens), Cabbage palm (Sabal
palmetto), Keys Thatch Palm (IB),
Florida Thatch Palm (Thrinax
radiate), Royal palm (Roystonea
spp.), and Coconut palm (Cocos
nucifera) woven together by
vines or thin ropes. A well-built
chickee structure can be last about ten
years but usually needs to be
re-thatched every five years.

Traditionally the wood used to construct
the chickee frame was made from cypress
logs, but today cypress is a protected
tree so pressure treated pine wood is
typically used.

The chickee
pictured here is a new construction at
Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm
Beach, Florida. Side note – if
you ever have an opportunity to visit a
newly built chickee, because of the
dried palm fronds, the structure smells
great – like a huge woven reed basket!